1. Field of the Inventive Concepts
The inventive concepts disclosed and claimed herein relate generally to a method for generating oxygenated water and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a method utilizing electrolysis to increase the quantity of dissolved oxygen in the water.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Increasing the oxygen content of water has many benefits and common applications have included treatment of aquarium water as well as pond and lake water. The most common methods for oxygenating aquarium and pond water involve sparging of the water with air, oxygen or oxygen-enriched air. Sparging processes are generally considered very inefficient.
Electrolysis of water to generate oxygen and hydrogen is also well known. For electrolytic production of hydrogen and oxygen from water, a voltage is applied across an anode and a cathode which are immersed in the water. The theoretical voltage required for disassociation of water is about 1.23 volts; however, in practice the applied voltage is higher. Hydrogen gas is produced at the cathode and oxygen is produced at the anode. Typically the gases form bubbles which rise to the surface and are collected. Care must be taken to separate and handle the hydrogen in a safe manner as the hydrogen can otherwise present a serious safety hazard.
Theories have developed citing various health benefits attributable to increased oxygen content in drinking water. As a result, a number of processes have been developed for increasing the concentration of dissolved oxygen in water. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,287, issued to Hough et al. in 1998, discloses a method of oxygenating water with electrolytic cells wherein the hydrogen tends to “bubble out of solution” while a portion of the oxygen molecules remain in the water.
However, currently available methods for generating oxygenated water often do not achieve the desired oxygen levels, and can involve inherent process inefficiencies and/or safety hazards. Thus, there remains a need for improved methods for increasing the dissolved oxygen content in water to desired levels with greater efficiency and with fewer safety issues.